Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor who has lost everything forcefully takes over their studio. During a tense standoff broadcast to millions on live TV, Lee and Patty must work furiously against the clock to unravel the mystery behind a conspiracy at the heart of today's fast-paced, high-tech global markets.

My thoughts on this film: It turns out that Gates has presented a recent investment as a sure thing, and Kyle believed him. When that company lost $800 million overnight, Kyle's loss was his $60,000 nest egg. Kyle represents the work-class folks who are simply fed up with the lies and manipulation for which the media and Wall Street conspire on a regular basis.
Jodie Foster seems at home with a straight-forward hostage-for-admission story. Created for a mass audience, with snippets of Clooney and Roberts humour that will satisfy their fans.
As with so many things these days, the hostage ordeal plays out on TV and captures the limited attention span of average folks (the film even references the OJ Simpson event). Of course, this film is not an instigator, but rather an exhibitor – a mirror of the times. Once the spectacle ends, everyone returns to their normal activities.
There was one 'glitch' though. It could have had a little more suspense, as after a while, you could already figure out the ending.
Still fun to watch!